Steering device for motor-vehicles.



No- 805,274. PATENTED NOV. 21, 1905.

J. W. EISENHUTH. STEERING DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 25, 1905. v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED NOV. 21, 1905.

J. W. EISENHUTH. STEERING DEVICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 wdneoam UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. EISENHUTH, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR. TO THE EISENHUTHHORSELESS VEHICLE CO., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

STEERING DEVICE FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed May 25,1905. Serial No. 262,303.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. EISENHUTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Steering Devices forMotor- Vehicles; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to improvements in running-gear for motor-vehicles,and has particular reference to means for guiding the same.

It consists in a suitable frame adapted to be mounted upon wheels, thesaid frame having an axle carrying guiding-wheels. The guiding-wheelsare pivotally secured to the ends of the axle so that they may be turnedone way or the other to direct the vehicle.

It also consists in means for moving the guiding-wheels simultaneously,said means consisting of yokes connected with the wheels, a leverconnected with the yokes, and agearing for moving the lever.

It also consists in means for supporting the frame upon theguiding-wheels, said means comprising yokes which are attached to anaxle of the frame and are provided with pivotally-attaching means forengaging the nonrevoluble central portion of the guidingwheels.

It also consists in certain novel constructions, combinations, andarrangements of parts,as will be hereinafter fully described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a top plan view of aportion of the runninggear,showinga guiding means mounted thereon. Fig.Qrepresentsa vertical crosssection through the running-gear lookingtoward the guiding-wheels. Fig. 3 represents a vertical longitudinalsection of a portion of the said running-gear, the inner surface of oneof the guiding-wheels being shown in side elevation. Fig. t represents adetail sectional view through a portion of one of the guidingwheels,illustrating the means of pivotally connecting the axle-yoke to thesame; and Fig. 5 is a detail view, partially in section and partially inelevation, of the same.

1 in the drawings represents a frame forming part of a running-gear 2,and the axle secured thereto; 3 3, guiding-wheels pivoted upon the endof said axle, and 4: represents an actuating-lever mounted upon therunninggear.

My improved running-gear is designed for use with wheels which have acentral nonrevoluble web portion and a peripheral revoluble rim portion.In this class of runninggear the axle of the guiding-wheels does notturn upon a central pivotal pin or king-bolt, but is rigidly secured tothe frame of the running-gear. WVhile these wheels may be constructed inany suitable manner, I preferably form them in the manner describedandclaimed by me in an application for a patent applied for upon evendate herewith. As seen in the drawings, the frame 1 is constructedpreferably of tubing for the purpose of strength and lightness and is soshaped as to permit the Wheels 3 3 to turn sufiiciently as to guide thevehicle. The shaft 2 is rigidly secured to the end of the framing 1 andprojects beyond the same at each end, where it is provided withaxle-yokes, as 5 5. The yokes 5 are pivotally connected with the wheels3 3, so that the said wheels may be turned from side to side, as will behereinafter more fully described. Horizontal yokes, as 6 6, are alsosecured to the central non-revoluble web portion of the guiding-wheels,being riveted or bolted thereto. Each of the yokes 6 6 is provided withan extending arm 7 7, and the said arms are connected, by means ofcrossing rods 8 8, with the ends of the actuating-lever 4E. The lever 4.is preferably pivoted upon the central bar of the frame 1, as at 9.

A segmental rack 10 is secured to the lever A and is adapted to beengaged by a pinion 11, rigidly secured to the lower end of asteeringshaft 12. The steering-shaft 12 is made extending upwardlythrough the bottom of the vehicle and to a point within easy reach of aperson operating the same. In order to insure the easy operation of thelever and its rack, I mount a bracket 13 upon the frame 1 and pivot inthe said bracket two or more flanged antifrictional rollers 1A 14. Therollers 14: 14: engage the outer edge of the segmental rack 10, so as tosmoothly guide the same in its movements. It will be apparent that byturning the shaft 12 motion will be imparted to the lever A through thepinionrack and will be caused to move the yokes 6 6. through theconnecting-rods 8 8, so as to direct the guiding-wheels.

The axle-yokes 5 are preferably arranged in a vertical plane, the upperand lower ends of each yoke having a head 15 formed thereon and avertical bearing in each head. The vertical bearings 16 16 are adaptedto engage vertical pivot pins or bolts, as 17 17. These pivot pins orbolts are formed with flanged bases, as 18, upon which the heads 17.rest, ball-bearings, as 19,v being preferably interposed between thetwo. The bases 18 are also provided with downwardly-extending verticalflanges, which embrace the web portions of the wheels when in theirproper position. The heads and pivots of the yokes 5 are adapted toextend into suitable openings, as 21, formed in the web portions of thewheels. These openings 21 are rectangular in shape and provided withupper extensions in their upper edges, as at 22. When the yokes are tobe attached to the web portions of the wheels, the pivot-pins 17 areinserted in the bearings 16 and the heads and pivot-pins are inserted-in the openings 21. The said openings are sufiiciently elongated topermit the heads to be raised far enough to place the flanges 20 so asto embrace the web portion of the wheel, as is clearly seen in Fig. t ofthe drawings. The upper extension 22 22 of the openings 21 permit theinsertion of the upper extended portion of each of the pivotpins 17.When the pivot-pins and heads have been inserted in the apertures, theyare depressed so that the bases 18 rest upon the lower edges of theopenings 21, the downwardly-extending projections 20 extending on eachside of the web of the wheel, and thereby firmly holding the pivots inposition at that point. In order to firmly secure the upper ends of thepivots in place, plates, as 23 23, are in place upon each face of thewheel, so as to inclose the upper end of the pivots 17 and hold themfirmly in the rests 22.

It will be seen that by this construction the ends of the axle arestrongly secured to the web portions of the guiding-wheels, and yet saidwheels can be turned easily in guiding the vehicle. The yokes 5 can bemade sufficiently wide to exert a strong leverage upon the web portionsof the wheels, while, on the other hand, the yokes 6 have a strongleverage upon the wheels for turning them under the influence of theguiding mechanism.

From the above description it will be'evident that I am enabled toproduce a runninggear and guiding mechanism for vehicles which is verysimple and yet which is strong and effective in guiding the saidvehicle.

Having now described my invention, what 1 claim as new, and desire to,secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A running-gear for vehicles comprising a suitable frame,guiding-wheels pivotally secured thereon having comparatively largenon-revoluble web portions, yokes rigidly secured directly to the saidwebs, and means for moving the said yokes for moving the wheels in onedirection or the other for directing the movements of the vehicle, theyoke affording astrong leverage on said wheels, substantially asdescribed.

2. A running-gear for vehicles comprising a frame and a shaft carriedthereby, wheels pivoted on the said shafts and provided withcomparatively large non-revoluble web portions yokes rigidly secureddirectly to the said webs, a lever connected with the said yokes, andmeans for moving the lever in order to actuate the yokes and therebyguide the movements of the running-gear, the yokes providing a strongpurchase on said wheels substantially as described.

3. In a running-gear for vehicles, the combination with a suitableframe, of a fixed shaft carried thereby, guiding-wheels pivoted to theends of the said shaft, yokes secured to the inner surface of the saidwheels, a lever pivoted upon the frame and having its ends connectedwith the yokes of the guiding-wheels, a rack secured to the said lever,a pinion adapted to engage the said rack and provided with suitablehand-operating mechanism whereby the lever may be actuated to move theguiding-wheels one way or the other, substantially as described.

4. In a running-gear for vehicles the combination with a suitable frame,of an axle carried thereby, wheels pivoted to the said axle, yokessecured to the wheels and having inwardly-projecting arms, a leverpivoted upon the frame of the runninggear, rods connecting the ends ofthe lever with the arms of the yokes upon the opposite sides of the saidrunning-gear, the said rods crossing each other, a segmental yokesecured to the said lever having internally-arranged rack-teeth formedthereon, a pinion for engaging the said rackteeth and therebycontrolling the movement of the guide-wheels, an antifrietion-guideengaging the periphery of the said segment comprising flangedantifriction rollers, and a bracket for holding the same in position,substantially as described.

5. In a running-gear for vehicles, the combination with a suitableframe, of wheels having non-revoluble web portions, an axle carriedthereby, yokes rigidlysecured to the ends of the said axle, means forpivotally connecting the arms of said yokes directly to the central webportions of the wheels whereby the wheels may be permitted to turn oneway or the other to guide the running-gear, while at the same time agood leverage is obtained on the web for holding the wheel vertical, andmeans connected with the said wheels for guiding them, substantially asdescribed.

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6. In a running-gear for vehicles, the combination with a suitableframe, of a fixed shaft carried thereby, Wheels having non-revoluble webportions, rigid yokes formed upon the ends of the said shaft, pivot-pinscarried by each arm of the said yokes and engaging apertures formed inthe web portions of the guiding-wheels, the web portions of theguidingwheels being thus pivoted upon said yokes, and means for turningthe said guiding-wheels upon the said pivots, the construction beingsuch that a strong leverage is obtained for holding the wheels vertical,substantially as described.

7 In a running-gear for motor-vehicles the combination with a suitableframe, of an affixed shaft mounted thereon, vertically-arranged yokessecured to the ends of the said shaft, wheels having non-revoluble webportions and revoluble rim portions, heads formed upon the ends of thesaid yokes having vertical bearings formed therein, pivot-pins adaptedto be inserted in the said bearings, the said heads to the saidpivot-pins being adapted to extend into apertures formed in the webportions of the guiding-wheels, and a means for holding the saidpivot-pins in the said apertures, substantially as described.

8. In a running-gear for vehicles the combination with a suitable frame,of a shaft mounted thereon, wheel-engaging yokes secured to the ends ofthe said shaft, guidingwheels secured to the said shaft havingnonrevoluble web portions and revoluble rim portions, means forpivotally connecting the said web portions to the said yokes comprisingheads formed upon the ends of the said yokes having vertical bearingsformed therein, pivotpins adapted to engage the said bearings,- basesthe said web portions of the guiding-wheels having elongated openingsfor receiving the heads of the yokes and their pivot-pins, plates forlocking the said pivot-pins in the said apertures, some of said plateshaving spacingblocks adapted to till the aperture above the saidpivot-pins whereby the parts are securely held in position, theconstruction being such that the web portions of the wheels may turnupon the yokes, and a means for turning the said wheels for guiding saidrunning-gear, substantially as described.

9. In a running-gear for vehicles, the combination with a suitableframe, of a shaft mounted thereon, guiding-wheels secured to thesaidshaft having comparatively large nonrevoluble web portions and revolublerim portions, vertical yokes rigid on the said shaft and pivotallysecured directly to the said webs, horizontal yokes rigidly secured tosaid webs for connecting the said wheels with a steering mechanism, andmeans for actuating the said horizontal yokes whereby the runninggearmay be guided in its movements, the yokes affording powerful leveragefor holding and guiding the said wheels, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN WV. EISENHUTH.

Witnesses:

J OHN L. FLETCHER, RUTH J. MIToHELL.

